Law | Mississippi Doctors Pushing For Smoking Ban
Mississippi doctors are pushing for state legislators to put a statewide smoking ban on the ballot. There are currently 86 cities that have smoke-free ordinance which covers 25% of the state’s population. However, Steve Demetropolous of the State Medical Association says this is not enough.
So far the medical association has failed to have lawmakers pass a state smoking ban, and are not look to get enough signatures to convince the legislators to take the issue to voters.
Republican Senator Brice Wiggins of Pasagoula who is a member of the Senate Public Health Committee states, “I am hesitant to force regulations on to private businesses. So what the state medical association is doing by taking it to the people is a good thing.”
The association is in the process of trying to get 107,216 certified signatures with a minimum of 21,4311 from each of the five congressional signatures.
If enough signatures are collected and the initiative makes it on to a ballot, it must receive a majority to pass and more than 40% of the total votes cast in that election.
Mr. Steve Demetropolous,do you reliaze how many elderly and poor would be without medical without the tobacco bailing out both medicare and medicaid ? Or do you propose smokers should pay taxes on cigarettes,,die and smoke only in their homess ? Tobacco taxes in Mississippi are billions yearly. what does your agency do for Mississippi ? How do i know that your salary is’nt paid with tobacco taxes ? Before you worked for the state medical association did you accept patients on medicare and medicaid ? So as long as it provided an income for you ?Why are the people who are reliant of other peoples miseries and monies so demanding of more ? Are you trying to get your 15 minutes of fame ? Are you a believer in the obama administration and our government wanting to tear up our constatution.?You don’t have the right to take a right from another person especiallly after you have profited from it.
Absolutely Correct! Doctors refund all monies with interest you took from medicare and medicaid. If you purchased homes,cars,boats ,businesses sell them and give the money back. If you sent your children to college with cigarette money they need to work free for smokers . so all these years you accepted tobacco monies knowing it was killing people but as long as you got yours you DID’NT care. You must have gotten quite a bit to be wanting them to shut down now huh?